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Trip Report: Cyprus, Rome, and Athens in Feb

We had a fantastic trip to Cyprus, Rome and Athens, thanks in large part to the wonderful advice I received from Fodorites. I will start by saying that this trip was initiated by my DH's business trip to Cyprus. Roughly, he needed to be in Cyprus on two consecutive weekends, with some free time in between. Perfect opportunity for a trip for me! So I started researching easy flights from Cyprus, and Rome quickly became the obvious choice. Our theme of our trip turned out to be "we wait in no lines," which again was mostly due to the great info I received from this forum.

We flew easily from Newark to London to Larnaca. Not much is written on this board about Cyprus, but we found it to be lovely. Of course, it is primarily a beach destination but we were there in February, so did not get to enjoy the typical tourist areas. We were also staying in Nicosia, which is an inland city, so did not really see the coast. Coming from the US east coast, though, we found the weather (15-20 C every day) to be spectacular. I enjoyed several days strolling around Nicosia while hubby worked. Ledra Street is the main shopping street in the old city and has lots of cafes, shops etc. One of the main social experiences of Cypriots is drinking coffee... it seemed like every other business was a coffee shop. Frappes or espresso freddo (ice coffees) are especially popular, and I must say I quite enjoyed sampling them. I walked all around the old city, including the walls and Famagusta gate, and crossed the green line several times into North Nicosia . Nicosia is a divided city, as the north part of the city (and country) are Turkish-occupied. It was very easy, though to cross between the two sides just by showing your passport. On the Turkish side, we had a delightful lunch in the sun, eating within the walls of the Buyuk Han. I also spent an afternoon at the hammam, experiencing a Turkish bath for the first time in my life. Magnificent!

One day I took the bus from Nicosia to Limassol. It was an easy and pleasant ride, and I got a nice view of the water as we rode along the coast. I wandered around the old port area, and enjoyed the castle/ medieval museum. A very nice day. On another evening, DH's business associates treated us to one of the best meals of my life. We went to a traditional Greek taverna. It was the kind of place we never would have known existed if traveling on our own... we walked through a non-descript, unidentified door into an open courtyard with an outdoor stove, then indoors again to our table. We were a group of 8 (4 couples). After the wine was poured (Cypriot wine is really good!) the food started arriving... and arriving and arriving. First there were several different vegetables, then pita and tahini, then cheese, more vegetables, sausages, and then plates and plates of meat (souvlaki). More wine, more toasts... we felt really welcomed to this small little country and made new friends in our wonderful hosts.

We really enjoyed Nicosia, though after a few days I felt I had really seen and done everything there was there. I'm guessing most visitors to Cyprus would be satisfied with a day trip. I should add that the economic difficulties of the country are apparent in the number of empty storefronts throughout the city. Ledra Syreet and several other areas are bustling, but there are many streets in the old city that are essentially abandoned. I should add, though, that I always felt completely safe everywhere I went, including walking by myself at night.

After a long weekend in Nicosia (Thurs- Mon) we were off to Rome! Just like on our flights over, no lines at the airports, sailed right through. Oh the joys of traveling in February!

"Cypriot wine is really good!" well it used to range from rough to very interesting. Wisely the country founded some 20+ AC regions 4 weeks before it joined the EU and, while some of these ACs are just the output of an industrial estate, there is a general improvement in quality. The only real quality wine is St John Commandaria which is pretty hard to get but worth the hunt.

This is an interesting addition to my Cyprus trip a year or so back. I didn't spend any time in Nicosia at all. Spent a few days in Paphos where the mosaics are magnificent, then went through the Green Line to Kyrenia/Girne for another few days. This is a spectacular Venetian harbour and a base for seeing some of the other historical gems. Because of its location, Cyprus has archaeology from the Romans and Greeks and of course the Byzantines. The history of Famagusta is fascinating; you can see where the Venetians held out for months against the Ottomans. Also Laurence Durrell's place at Bella Pais and the monastery outside Kyrenia are worth a visit. When I was there we saw few other tourists outside the coastal resorts. A great undiscovered island easy to get to by air from the UK and by sea from the Turkish coast.

Cyprus is not an undiscovered island, Cyprus actually received
in 2012 2.500.000 visitors ( and it has a population of 800.000)
While it only received about 20.000 Americans, almsot 1.000.000 visitors were from the UK, where Cyprus is a very popular destination for many years now.

Cyprus is very rich in history, as it was inhabited by Greeks ( the Romans came later but didn't influence the locals), and as you say Byzantines... Byzantines were actually Greeks, living in the Byzantine Empire. ( especially after the 6th century, when Greek was adopted as the language of administration and the Byzantine Empire was connected with Orthodox Christianity )

You visited the Bella Pais monastery, which is in a good shape, but what you didn't see are the many Greek Orthodox churches with destroyed icons by the turkish occupation, many of which were sold all over the world illegally.

You also didn't see the many ancient Greek monuments that got destroyed, statues and other archaeological treasures that disappeared from the turkish occupied part and were sold to greedy collectors all over the world.

The Northern part is being occupied by Turkish troops since 1974, and 200.000 Cypriots had to leave their homes during the Turkish invasion. It is being recognized only by Turkey .

Yes, clausar, I saw the Greek orthodox churches which have been converted into mosques. Or abandoned. I also saw the old Greek villages which were deserted when the Turks invaded in 1974 and where the houses have been taken over, or bought, not entirely legally, by expats. I stood on the beach in Famagusta outside the barbed wire where I could see the hotels similarly deserted since 1974.
I am from the UK myself, so I know that Cyprus is full of British tourists and mainly served by charter flights from the UK. Aya Napa has, or did have, a reputation as a resort over-run by hard-drinking British tourists in the summer.
I know that the northern part of Cyprus is occupied by the Turks, Turkish is spoken and Turkish currency is used. There is a heavy Turkish military presence.
The Turkish tourist office in Kyrenia/Girne told me that as I had entered through the Greek part of the island I would have to leave the same way. Not true: I just walked onto a ferry for Alanya. How legal that was I don't know; there is no Cyprus stamp in my passport from either part of the island.

And yes, North Cyprus is not recognised by any country other than Turkey. It is only possible to fly there from a Turkish airport which leads to the strange situation of charter flights from the UK having to touch down in Antalya or Dalaman before going on to Kyrenia. The Greek part of the island is part of the EU but not the Turkish part. I heard when I was there that politicians of both sides of Cyprus were eager for unification. But nothing seems to happen.
Re abandoned Greek churches and houses, there are even more of them on the Aegean coast of Turkey as a result of the population exchange of 1923. Tragic.

The unification of ht two parts is a long and difficult story...
The major problem is that the Turkish Cypriots are patronized by Turkey and are not free to follow their own dreams.

The second problem is that Turkey brought many Turks from Anatolia to the turkish occupied part, and they have no connection at all to Cyprus and the co existence of Greek and Turkish Cypriots that lasted for centuries.
This also changed the demography of the island, since a big part of the turkish population is not of Cypriot origin.

Discussions are going as of how many of them will have to leave the Northern prt, what will be given back to the Greek Cypriots ( 40 % of the island is under occupation, while Turkish Cypriots were 18% of the total population before 1974.)

In 2004 there was a chance for a re unification, the Turks had accepted the UN plans with a referendum, but the Greek referendum decided against ( very much to my regret), because they believed that during the transition phase there were no guarantees given by the UN.

I have been to many villages on the Aegean Coast of Turkey, and saw many churches and monasteries..
Many are in good shape, you still can see the old frescos, but they have taken out the eyes of Saints..

In many cases the friendly and hospitable local population is showing the churches to visitors, but it is sad to see some of them being turned into houses.. ( saw it in Ayvalik, the lady who was living there even made the sign of cross to confirm that it was a church before).

Greek history is present everywhere in Turkey.... only our guide in Pergamos ( Bergama), never mentioned that what we were seeing was Greek... while i could read all the inscriptions because they were written in ancient Greek.....

The catastrophe of Asia Minor, as it is known in Greece is a dark chapter of European history.

But to give you a picture of the other side, ottoman mosques in Greece got almost totally destroyed, and there are only very few left that are now being protected.

Clausar, we seem to have hijacked this report. Just wanted to comment on your comments.
Yes, I too noticed the large number of Turks from Anatolia imported to North Cyprus. The atmosphere there is quite different from the Aegean coast of Turkey and from the Greek part of Cyprus.
I was amazed in Ayvalik, which to me looks like a Greek town. A lot of the houses were derelict when I was there 2 years ago. When I asked a local person about this, he told me these houses were now owned by Turks who were not taking care of them.
It's obvious that Bergama and all the other sites on the Turkish mainland are Greek in origin just by looking at them. There are so many all the way along the coast as far as Antalya and probably further. I believe the same is true of the Black Sea coast but I haven't been there yet.
And yes, there are plenty of mosques in Greece, though I have only seen them in the islands...Rodos, Kos, Crete, Lesvos, Chios, probably more. Thessaloniki of course. A lot of them are now museums.
This whole story is an essential part of the history of the eastern Med which tourists are mainly unaware of.